ESPN Mock Draft

[Dienasty]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/story...-first-overall

It has the Flames drafting 5th and taking Haydn Fleury (Red Deer). It has a pretty glowing report on him and also mentions how Burke has a history of drafting D early in drafts (Reilly/Schenn)

Has anyone seen him? Can anyone comment on him?

Dal Colle goes 4, Kapanen, Nylander Virtanen and Draisaitl round out 6-9.

[Da_Chief]

ESPN's insider crap is the biggest joke ever, especially in this day and age when people are looking for traffic and they're charging people to read their info.

[bubbsy]

anyone have their mock draft from last year?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Dienasty

http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/story...-first-overall

It has the Flames drafting 5th and taking Haydn Fleury (Red Deer). It has a pretty glowing report on him and also mentions how Burke has a history of drafting D early in drafts (Reilly/Schenn)

Has anyone seen him? Can anyone comment on him?

Dal Colle goes 4, Kapanen, Nylander Virtanen and Draisaitl round out 6-9.

Already mentioned this in the draft thread on the main forums but during the Toronto game Burke said on the Fan 960 that this draft was kind of strange because there is only 1 dman in the top 10.

Assuming he is talking about Ekblad, it is safe to say Fleury is not in the running for the Flames pick at this time.

[sureLoss]

That being said here is red line report's take on him

http://www.redlinereport.com/wp-cont...ght-Feb-14.pdf

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Already mentioned this in the draft thread on the main forums but during the Toronto game Burke said on the Fan 960 that this draft was kind of strange because there is only 1 dman in the top 10.

Assuming he is talking about Ekblad, it is safe to say Fleury is not in the running for the Flames pick at this time.

Really happy to hear that.

I really want us to draft a centre to build some organizational depth at the centre ice position. Draisaitl/Bennett/Reinhart - whoever we can get of those 3 makes me pretty damn happy.

[Francis's Hairpiece]

Fleury is an Oilers fan. Do not want.

[Dienasty]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

That being said here is red line report's take on him

http://www.redlinereport.com/wp-cont...ght-Feb-14.pdf

That was a pretty great write up. I wouldn't be offended with that pick. But if what Burke said is true, I would assume that Ekblad would be the D man in the top 10.

[sureLoss]

Fleury is a very safe pick. Perhaps too safe to make with a top 5 pick.

The red line report's projection of him being a #2 D is perhaps on the optimistic side.

I view him more realistically as a really good 2nd pairing guy. For him to be a #2 D, I think everything has to go right for him developmentally wise or his team has to be thin on defence.

For D, I think you can find guys with similar ceilings but with lower floors in the early 2nd round.

The forwards projected to go around #5 pick have game breaker potential. I just don't see that with Fleury.

[spennywalks]

can anyone post the full mock draft done by espn?

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Francis's Hairpiece

Fleury is an Oilers fan. Do not want.

Iginla was an Oilers fan too

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Mock drafts are pretty worthless IMO. The actual rankings by independant scouting agencies are far more worthwhile.

[snipetype]

I think it's going to be hilarious when Burke steps up and picks fleury and you guys all lose your ####. This guy has skills that translate to the nhl very well. He has a huge potential. Easily potential to be a #1shutdown dman that can fill in on the power play. As far as physical tools go, fleury is clearly number two in this draft. This guy is a remake of trouba it pietrangelo in their draft year. D men that can skate hit defend well play agressive don't just grow on trees

[snipetype]

Trouba or pietrangelo somewhere in between

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Fleury is a very safe pick. Perhaps too safe to make with a top 5 pick.

The red line report's projection of him being a #2 D is perhaps on the optimistic side.

I view him more realistically as a really good 2nd pairing guy. For him to be a #2 D, I think everything has to go right for him developmentally wise or his team has to be thin on defence.

For D, I think you can find guys with similar ceilings but with lower floors in the early 2nd round.

The forwards projected to go around #5 pick have game breaker potential. I just don't see that with Fleury.

That's the same as I view Fleury.

I'd rather get Draisaitl/Bennett/Dal Colle + say one or two of Glover, Middleton, Dougherty, Mattson, Jacobs, or Collins, in the second round. Each of those guys have similar size to Fleury or Ekblad, and while they don't have the same floor as those two, you stand a decent chance of finding someone good from that group, even if they don't have the same hype as Fleury/Ekblad. You are not likely going to get a top 6 forward out of the 2nd round (unless you're extremely lucky)

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by snipetype

I think it's going to be hilarious when Burke steps up and picks fleury and you guys all lose your ####. This guy has skills that translate to the nhl very well. He has a huge potential. Easily potential to be a #1shutdown dman that can fill in on the power play. As far as physical tools go, fleury is clearly number two in this draft. This guy is a remake of trouba it pietrangelo in their draft year. D men that can skate hit defend well play agressive don't just grow on trees

Burke clearly stated that there is only 1 defenseman that is in the top 10. If he really wants a defenseman, we will give up our 4th/5th round pick and a couple of prospects/draft picks to go for Ekblad. Nothing wrong against Fleury, but I feel that there are better prospects that we can draft ahead of him. The top 5 have bigger potential that Fleury

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by snipetype

I think it's going to be hilarious when Burke steps up and picks fleury and you guys all lose your ####. This guy has skills that translate to the nhl very well. He has a huge potential. Easily potential to be a #1shutdown dman that can fill in on the power play. As far as physical tools go, fleury is clearly number two in this draft. This guy is a remake of trouba it pietrangelo in their draft year. D men that can skate hit defend well play agressive don't just grow on trees

anything is possible, but if he had shown clear signs he was a remake of trouba or pietrangelo he would be much higher rated then where he has been.

this draft is weak and even weaker on top end D.

Fleury is a good prospect but he hasn't shown signs of being that good.

[snipetype]

K well trouba was 8th overall. Ranked far below Matt dumba. Pietrangelo was drafted 4th overall. Bob Mckenzie had fleury at 6. Just watch the prospects game and follow Haydn fleury and tell me he's not the 3rd most talented player in this draft. His skillet stands out he's bigger faster smarter then his peers. We are weak as far as defensive prospects go. To say that there is only one d in the top ten is laughable really. This guy is clearly in the top 6 of this draft. Regardless of his impact at the junior level, he will be an impact player at the nhl and fills a need the flames don't have. For a more recent comparison think Rasmus ristolainen from last draft.

[moon]

I have watched him play and he is not a top 3 talent in this draft.

Looking at the rankings and how often he is out of the top 6 not sure how you can say he is clearly in the top 6. He may go that high and may be great but he is far from clearly in the top 6.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by snipetype

K well trouba was 8th overall. Ranked far below Matt dumba. Pietrangelo was drafted 4th overall. Bob Mckenzie had fleury at 6. Just watch the prospects game and follow Haydn fleury and tell me he's not the 3rd most talented player in this draft. His skillet stands out he's bigger faster smarter then his peers. We are weak as far as defensive prospects go. To say that there is only one d in the top ten is laughable really. This guy is clearly in the top 6 of this draft. Regardless of his impact at the junior level, he will be an impact player at the nhl and fills a need the flames don't have. For a more recent comparison think Rasmus ristolainen from last draft.

I just watched the prospects game tonight and he's not anywhere near the 3rd most talented player in the draft. Sorry bud, you're alone in this. Red Deer fan?